Why Would I Write

Author: goodnewsgeorge

  • Good Deeds

    What is karma? Is it real? Does everyone believe in karma? Why do people do good things? Do they expect others to do the same to them?
    I get that doing good deeds is what makes you a normal human being, and that you shouldn’t expect anything out of it. But if you’re going out of your way to accomplish something – are you still entitled to a perk in the future?
    I mean, think about it, there’s a reason why people believe in karma. Right? Or there’s a reason why religion tells us to be good people. There’s no reason to be a dick. Unless you’re purposely upset about somebody and want to ruin their day.
    I don’t know. Didn’t really have any cohesive thoughts, but I was just thinking about it to myself.
    Over the weekend, I did a couple of ‘good deeds’. I left a note on somebody’s car, telling him that his rear wheel had a flat tire. And I informed a cashier that a whole section of goods they were selling had gone past their expiry date. I don’t expect anything good to happen to me because of those things. Aren’t they just things that people should normally do?
    However, whenever someone does something good, you usually hear about it (here I am blogging about it LOL). People think it’s something extraordinary. Like it’s something special to not be an asshole. Isn’t that kind of weird? I don’t know.
    Where am I going with this? Nowhere.

    I just think that it’s weird that people think being nice is a special thing to do, when in fact – being nice is probably the foundation of being a decent human being. People shouldn’t expect anything when they’re being nice. There’s no reason to.

    Sure, it’s better than being an ass to someone else, but the better alternative is to just be nice, or ignorant. Move on with your life. Don’t contribute negatively.

    But then again, if everybody just ignored everybody, I guess this world would fall apart as well. Hmm.

  • Tony hated cats

    When Tony was a young boy, he used to have nightmares about a man sneaking into his room and taking his toys away. He had made sure to always go to bed hugging his favorite teddy bear, but in the dream, the teddy bear was always on the floor on the other side of the room. He’d cry and scream, and beg the man not to take his teddy bear away. But the man would never listen. He’d always make sure to grab the soft toy before exiting the room.

    However, there was one night the dream didn’t play out as usual. This time, the teddy bear was still in Tony’s clutches. Thinking that the mysterious man would give up if he didn’t find the bear, Tony hid it under his blanket, away from the man. After silently combing the rest of the room and not finding the bear, instead of walking out of the room, the man looked at Tony and stepped towards him. It was as though he could sense the bear under the sheets.

    “Go away!” Tony yelled at the man as he gripped the bear even tighter. He wasn’t going to lose the toy again. Not this time.

    The man wordlessly continued towards the boy. And for the first time, Tony saw the face of the man, revealed by the moonlight shining through the windows of the room. Expecting the face of an adult man, Tony was horrified by what he saw – the man had the face of a cat. The fact that it wasn’t disfigured or grotesque made it much worse for Tony. He let out a scream and woke up crying. He had never felt a greater fear before in his life.

    Since that nightmare, Tony decided to get rid of his teddy bear, thinking that it was a magnet for the mysterious cat-faced man. While the dreams stopped, his fear of cats and anything feline-like remained. He never looked at them the same way again.

    Writing Prompt from Reddit: Wednesday Writer’s Workshop: “Thought” Verb Exercise

  • Music and the Internet

    If there’s one thing I am extremely thankful to the internet for, it’s how much it has enabled me to enjoy music. Beyond allowing me to listen to new music that I would have never discovered otherwise, the internet has been a great teaching tool. Thanks to the wonderful people out there who have spent their time transcribing song lyrics and tabbing guitar parts, I can easily learn how to play and sing a song with a few clicks.

    Sure, it doesn’t make learning the song any easier, but the fact that I don’t have to spend time trying to figure out what notes are being played and what words are being sung saves me a lot of time. I can head into the nitty-gritty right away. We can also watch video tutorials to figure out the right way to play songs. Back then, we’d have to ask friends or teachers to learn the songs so that they could teach it to us.

    And thanks to the internet, I can also easily publish a song for the whole world to hear, just like that. Back then you’d have to record something to a CD or tape and pass it along by hand. Crazy. It’s because of the internet we’ve had so many musicians breakout and become commercial successes. Sure, it also enables a lot of crap but fortunately we’ve been blessed with the sense of hearing so we can learn to ignore what we dislike.

    In addition to learning about music, the internet has opened my world to instruments. It’s easy to find out what your favorite guitarist plays and how to replicate their sounds. You can read all about an instrument you want to buy before pulling the trigger. If you’re unsure of how to use its features, video tutorials are available. Same thing for recording software.

    When you think about it, it’s insane how much music is enabled because of the internet. It’s one of the things I’ll be forever grateful for, and I can’t imagine a world without such a tool.